Microsoft Drops Support for Java on Eve of Closing Antitrust Arguments

Microsoft cited Sun's opposition in the case as the reason for the decision to remove support for Sun's Java programming language from future versions of Microsoft's Windows operating system.

"The decision to remove Microsoft's Java implementation was made because of Sun's strategy of using the legal system to compete with Microsoft," Microsoft spokesman Jim Cullinan said in a statement.

A Sun spokeswoman did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

Microsoft was found by a federal appeals court to have used illegal means to stamp out competition. The Justice Department reached a settlement with Microsoft last year, but nine states are still seeking stronger antitrust penalties.

Several witnesses appearing in the states' case against Microsoft, including executives of computer maker Gateway, accused the software giant of retaliating against companies that refused Microsoft edicts or helped the government build its antitrust case.

In an interview, Microsoft general counsel William Neukom declined to comment on the Java announcement or allegations of retaliation.

Current versions of Windows XP do not include Java, though users can download it if they need to run programs written in the language. But Microsoft did say it would temporarily restore support for Java in the upcoming update to Windows XP, expected this fall.

That decision may further anger Sun because Windows XP will include Microsoft's own version of Java rather than having users download the version made by Sun.

Cullinan says the company will temporarily support Java "to minimize any potential disruption among our customers."

The battle over Microsoft's implementation of Java--promoted for its ability to run programs regardless of what operating system it is installed on--was a central part of the federal antitrust case as well as two civil suits brought by Sun against Microsoft. Microsoft was criticized for putting its own flavor of Java in Windows that was incompatible with Sun's version.

A federal court found Microsoft created programming tools that fooled Java programmers into thinking they were writing software that would work on any version of Java, rather than just Microsoft's version. Microsoft still disputes that anyone was tricked into writing incompatible software.

Sun has taken an active role in the antitrust case. It gave information to lawyers for the nine states suing the company and Sun executives testified during two months of penalty hearings.

Microsoft cited terms of a settlement with Sun in its decision to drop Java.

"The settlement agreement between the companies prevents Microsoft from making any changes--including any security fixes--to our Java implementation after January 1, 2004," Cullinan says. "We will not put our customers or Windows at risk so you can anticipate that there will be no Java in Windows from that point forward."

Lawyers for Microsoft and nine states suing the company are scheduled to present their closing arguments Wednesday. Microsoft's announcement Tuesday took the states by surprise, says California assistant attorney general Tom Greene.

"We're certainly surprised at this event on the eve of the closing arguments in a major antitrust case," Greene says. "We'll look forward to hearing more about this tomorrow."

One of the antitrust penalties proposed by the states would force Microsoft to carry support for Java.

As punishment for hurting competition through illegal means, the states also want Microsoft to create a modular version of the Windows operating system, in which particular components could be removed and replaced by computer manufacturers.

Microsoft's Neukom says the company's arguments will focus on the "fragmentation and destabilization" of Windows that the company says would result from the state penalties, and that at most the non-settling states should get no more than the terms of the federal deal.

"We believe the evidence to support that position is in this record," Neukom says.

States that rejected the government's settlement with Microsoft last fall and are pressing for tougher penalties are Iowa, Utah, Massachusetts, Connecticut, California, Kansas, Florida, Minnesota and West Virginia, along with the District of Columbia.

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